And the 2012 NPC USAs will be starting at 12 noon today, with the Men's Bodybuilding Meeting at 10:45 backstage. Yesterday, were the NPC USA Check-Ins and many people were just coming in. Here are a few links from pics from yesterday.

I honestly didn't know there was a contest (and I used to follow this stuff) nor do I recognize any of the names.

Seems like 10 years ago, there was a lot of hype leading up to the USAs, and there was pre-coverage, and folks generally tried to make the competitors into celebs in the little world of bodybuilding. But it doesn't seem like that now...

I mean, you had Titus, Prince, Kamali, Cormier, Wheeler, Francois, Newman, Demayo...guys who were developed as personalities for the pageant, ostensibly to sell tickets and magazines. But they tried to make you care a little bit about who was competing, and add some drama to make it interesting. I remember caring (outed).

But with magazines dead or dying, and contest tickets being sold to the families of the several hundred figure & bikini contestants, does anyone care about mens bodybuilding, let alone the mens bodybuilding at the USAs, anymore?

I remember when it was interesting to see if Dennis James would be Melvin Anthony for the only pro card. Or when Hernon came out and beat Titus, who was supposed to walk away with it easily.